Gartner: Time Is Now for VoIP

Gartner told attendees that IP telephony is ready for deployment technologically, but business concerns might override making the shift in some companies. The cost of the phones is a major issue.

Bringing voice over IP into corporate networks is inevitable, so businesses should be well on their way to at least testing the technology according to Gartner.

This year, for the first time, sales of communications servers that support IP are expected to exceed sales of traditional PBXs that don't, Gartner analysts said last week at the company's annual Symposium/ITxpo,And by 2006 sales of traditional PBXs will be relatively insignificant, they said.

With that shift, IT departments should have IP voice gear running in pockets in their networks, even if their companies have no firm plans to adopt it, users say.

I think it would be foolish not to have that option, says James Lieupo, network administrator for Florida's Department of Veterans Affairs. Lieupo has installed Avaya Software's IP-capable voice gear in the department's six nursing homes.

IP Voice Is Coming

Even though they are performing as traditional TDM key systems, IP voice is coming, he says.

He is looking to run IP voice on the state data network as a cost-cutting measure. Also, the state is seeking bids for its voice backbone, and he predicts that some of the proposals will include IP services.

Similarly, Watkins Motor Lines in Lakeland, Fla., started experimenting with Cisco (Nasdaq: CSCO) IP phones two years ago to become familiar with the technology says Dave Lichtel, the company's telecom director. Now it has bought Cisco Call Center gear to replace aging PBX equipment. The company plans to use the gear to expand its help desk and call center functionality by integrating phone calls with on-screen data displays about callers. The cost of going with IP vs. TDM was about a wash.